Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

In the September 6, 2000 edition of The Onion A.V. Club titled "Is There A God?", celebrities were asked the question. Jolie was among those asked.

She reportedly replied: "Hmm... For some people. I hope so, for them. For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn't need to be a God for me. There's something in people that's spiritual, that's godlike. I don't feel like doing things just because people say things, but I also don't really know if it's better to just not believe in anything, either."

Serendipity Obituary

Jonathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancee. He was 35 years old. Soft-spoken and obsessive, Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit of his long reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of the New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. "Things were clearer for him," Kansky noted. Ultimately Jonathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum", what we currently refer to as destiny.

Grissom: The bellows.
Hodges: I'm sorry?
Grissom: James Tilly Mathews. Early 19th century London. Mathews was in Bedlam hospital awaiting trial. Doctors were trying to determine his sanity. Several interviewed him. Half thought he was sane, half insane. Turns out he was perfectly normal, except when someone mentioned politics. At that point, he'd go into a rage about the little men who lived underground and used a bellows to push thoughts into his mind, as well as the minds of Parliament, and the Queen. A specific object or word triggers the urge to kill. That's a form of delusional psychosis. Rare, but it does exist.

We rock

Dear Colleagues,

NSF recently released its information on the top 100 Psychology Departments for FY2004. Once again, UW-Madison is ranked #1 and brought in approximately twice as much funding as the #2 ranked department (Penn State - all campuses). Other Big Ten departments in the top ten include Illinois (#5), Minnesota (#8), and Indiana (#9). Congratulations!

Joe

She Spent an Hour in Her Driveway This Morning Telling Her Car to Go

Clerk to woman trying to use debit card: You have to confirm.
Woman: How I do that?
Clerk: With the keypad you're holding.
Woman, using keypad as cell phone: I confirm!

--Electronic store, Times Square

Overheard by: French dude

Source: overheardinnewyork.com

BBC E-mail: US cat 'predicts patient deaths'

A cat that appears to be able to predict when residents at a US care home are about to die baffles experts CLICK HERE to read

Oscar meows in protest if removed from the room of a dying patient

My vote is for biochemical, but fascinating nonetheless.

M A R Q U E C O R N B L A T T

M A R Q U E C O R N B L A T T

Art of Sculpture and Robotics



About the Artist

Marque Cornblatt was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1966 and now lives in San Francisco where he is currently an MFA candidate in the Conceptual Information Arts Program at SFSU. He has a diploma in theater technology from the Baltimore School of the Arts and a B.F.A. in film and video production from New York University.

Source

Nine Inch Nails to become TV stars

'Year Zero' turned into show


Nine Inch Nails are reportedly getting ready to turn their album 'Year Zero' in a television programme.

The futuristic show is said to centre around a time when the US is ruled by a right wing, religious dictatorship, reflecting the record's themes.

Frontman Trent Reznor said: "We've got a producer on board and have met with writers. We're about to pitch it to the network, so we're a couple of weeks away from meeting all of the main people, and we'll see what happens."

According to Blabbermouth, Reznor said he was also interested in turning the project into a film.

article link: http://www.nme.com/news/nine-inch-nails/30370

SJ works with the Yeah Yeahs

Scarlett Johansson is working on a new album featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Karen O. So it's gonna be f*&king fantabulous.

Source

I heart Amy Winehouse

Amy Wino carrying around a bottle of Jack Daniels. Precious. Just precious.

Sossamon interview "Chakushin Ari" (2003)

In this remake of the Japanese horror film "Chakushin Ari" (2003), several people start receiving voice-mails from their future selves -- messages which include the date, time, and some of the details of their deaths.

VIDEO INTERVIEW

Source

Depp Duo

The first official shot of Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd from the upcoming Tim Burton-directed adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical.

also...

Depp to vamp it up Barnabas-style
Warner Bros. is teaming with Depp's Infinitum-Nihil and Graham King's GK Films to develop a feature based on the '60s daytime supernatural sudser "Dark Shadows."

Depp has said in interviews that he has always been obsessed with "Dark Shadows" and had, as a child, wanted to be Barnabas Collins, the vampire patriarch of the series. The role was originated by Jonathan Frid.

A rights deal just closed with the estate of Dan Curtis, the producer/director who created the soap that aired weekdays on ABC, from 1966 to 1971. Depp and King will produce with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Prods. until Curtis died last year of a brain tumor. Infinitum-Nihil's Christi Dembrowski served as the point person on the deal.

Over 1,225 episodes, "Dark Shadows" was a highly atmospheric, spooky soap that featured gothic horror staples like vampires, monsters, witches, werewolves, ghosts and zombies. The show has a continuing rabid fan base that populates Dark Shadows Festival conventions. Numerous TV revivals of the series and pic adaptations have been attempted over the years but none with as high-wattage a star as Depp.

SOURCE

Like fine wine

Proof that men get better with age.

Surreal wallpaper

Custom wallpaper with designs that morph around room features?

Now that's a trip.

Hot Dogma

Hot dog vendor: How you like it?
Tourist: Just ketchup, please.
Hot dog vendor: You not like New York style?
Tourist: Sure, but not today.
Hot dog vendor, reluctantly handing over dog: I think you make very big mistake today, sir, and every day, too.

--Battery Park

Source: Overheard in New York

Don't We All, Buddy

New Indian cashier: I don't have any change. How do I get more change?
Old Indian cashier: Call on the intercom for the manager to come to the front.
New Indian cashier, over intercom: Manager to the front, please. I need change, please. I badly need change.

--Duane Reade, 50th & Broadway

Source: Overheard in New York

Thank God I'm Pretty

Trailer video for PostSecret and PostSecret.com.

Trailer video for PostSecret and PostSecret.com.

Fly

New Maeder

Leandro Maeder modeling for DOLCE & GABBANA 2007.

Uncensored trailer for Shoot Em Up released

"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch."
Clive Owen is sex.

"The Boys"

Dragonette have done a killer remake of Calvin Harris‘ The Girls.

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that's right

Some English signs seen on Non-English Speaking Countries:

In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front.

In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. daily.

In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.

In a Hong Kong supermarket: For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for the purpose.

In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.

Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand: Would you like to ride on your own ?

Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop: Drive Sideways.

In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today - no icecream.

In a Tokyo bar: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.

In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.

In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

At a Budapest Zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.

In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.

In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read notis.

In a Japanese Hotel Room: Please to bathe inside the tub.

In a Bucharest Hotel Lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

In a Leipzig Elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up.

In a Belgrade Hotel Elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.

In the Lobby of a Moscow Hotel Across from a Russian Orthodox Monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.

On the Menu of a Swiss Restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

On the Menu of a Polish Hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup" with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.

Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.

In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.

In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.

In a Zurich hotel: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.

In a Vienna hotel: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.

From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.

MORE

The video for this song actually isn't original; it wasn't made for this song that is - it's an Academy Award nominated short film made almost 10 years ago, I remember watching it as a kid. It's called "More" by Mark Osborne, you can check it out on IMDB.

WATCH it. Then if you don't understand it, highlight the text under here.

The message of this video and song is that happiness comes from inside you, not material things, and that is what makes the world around you not so bleak, but when you rely on material things to make yourself happy, you lose that happiness inside of you.

Beautiful is Ageless

Famed photographer Peter Lindbergh takes a look at the supermodels of the 90's & photographs them one more time for Italian Vogue July 2007.

Here

A Fine Frenzy

A Fine Frenzy, consisting of Alison Sudol, came out with her debut album last week on Virgin Records. She's amazing...I love her immediately.

Reading for Prelims Continues

Loneliness

Loneliness has been termed the most desolate word in the English language. It is no respecter of age, race, economic status, or intelligence. Albert Einstein said, "It is strange to be known so universally, and yet to be so lonely."

When a romance doesn't work out we're often put into this state of angst, rehashing what was said, the if's, the maybe's, the goods and the bads. Perhaps the most potent of these is the "missing" we feel for that lost person. How will they remember us? How should we remember them? What could have been done differently, that may have led to a different outcome. The deeper we are able to feel in life, the harder this is. It does not get easier.

But lately, I have realized this "missing" feeling is always the same. Do I really miss him? No, I don't. I miss "it". That elusive, happy feeling we have when we begin to hope again. Different scenarios, but the same feeling, as I turn over another page in my book, and wait for "it" to arrive.

Domination

Knowing yourself is important. The imperfections within yourself should be recognized, and worked on. But unless you allow them to, they are not who define you.

Similarly, I've remembered that simple concerns such as kindness, comfort, compassion, and consideration should not be the exception, rather than the rule. Just as important as knowing yourself is knowing others, and understanding that your connections with them can only grow, change and become beautiful from your flexibility in working with them. Not against them.

In reality, there is no ultimate ruler. There is only compromise.

Siouxsie Sioux - Into a Swan

Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees will be releasing a new album September 10, 2007 (World) and September 18th in the States.

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."
Coco Chanel

Essential Travel Tool

Click above to experience the CHOCOLATE MAP.

Today

I Need to Go Bathe in Urine Now

Bus driver on intercom as it starts to rain: You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey... C'mon, everybody!
Entire bus, singing: You'll never know, dear, how much I love you -- please don't take my sunshine away.
Chick: I think that was the least-New York moment of my entire life.

--M79 bus

A billion neurons, a thousand regions...

a million functions, animal models, human circuitry, emotion regulation, reductionism, individual differences, genetics and environment, vulnerability, stress inoculation, HPA axis, neurogenesis, atrophy, affective style, resilience and plasticity, glucocorticoids D-cycolserine benzodiazapines Sapolsky Ledoux McEwen Caspi Kendler primates neurocognitive models resonance imaging diffusion tensor white matter connectivity gray matter atrophy Eosinophil granulocytes, commonly referred to as eosinophils (or less commonly as acidophils), are white blood cells of the immune system that are responsible for combating infection so little time....

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SPINAL TAP play Live Earth

Pasted from source

Spinal Tap[a] staged a special 'bass off' as they reformed especially for [a]Live Earth at Wembley Stadium today (July 7).

The spoof band - stars of Christopher Gest's seminal rock'n'roll satire 'This Is Spinal Tap' - staged the one-off show for Al Gore's environmental benefit.

Comdeian and Tap fan Ricky Gervais echoed his controversial comments from Live 8 two years ago, saying of today's event, "If this doesn't save the Earth, I don't know what will", and making references to the number of private jets that had been used to bring artists to and from the event.

Gervais then welcomed to the stage director Rob Reiner, posing as band manager Marty DiBurghi, who introduced the band as "the loudest and most punctual band on Earth, this is Spinal Tap!".

The veteran rockers then ploughed through three of their 'hits' beginning with 'Stonehenge', as model pieces of Stonehenge itself were wheeled and dangled on and off the stage on wires.

However the real centrepiece of the performance came before the closing 'Big Bottom', before which 'David St Hubbins' introduced "every bass player in the known universe...".

Joining the band were Foo Fighters' Nate Mendell, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, Bloc Party's Gordon Moakes and Madonna's bass player and producer Stuart Price.

However, Metallica frontman James Hetfield and the entire Beastie Boys also made it onto the stage to join in the fun.

Spinal Tap played:

'Stonehenge'
'Warmer Than Hell'
'Big Bottom'

Live Earth continues in London with James Blunt on next, and performances coming from Beastie Boys and Madonna among others.

source

Safe Sex

“Later, I got thinking about safe sex. Odd how only when our physical life is at risk, do we follow certain guidelines to protect ourselves. What about our emotional lives? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a little pamphlet to warn us what behavior might be high risk to ourselves or our relationships? Even if you take all the precautions and emotionally try to protect yourself, when you crawl in bed with someone, is sex ever safe?”

Carrie Bradshaw’s column (Sex and the City)

Double Dior

Dior Haute Couture Fall 2007 - Backstage

This is art...gorgeous photography